Dreaming of Sunshine
by Daughter of Sons
Summary: She always hoped they would escape. But her dream is to be free...


Black darkness. Always there. The cave walls closing in around her like the huge fist of a giant.

There are others with her. Lost souls hiding in the twilight zone of the cave's dim interior. Bats flit around the ceiling, squeaking and swooping. They ask her to play; always up for a game. She squeaks back to them.

"Not today." She says. No, today she is trying something new. And she's not going to tell the others. They wouldn't like her idea. But they don't control her. They never did.

The bats leave the cave through the huge crevice in the wall, glad to be free for the night. The others watch the bats leave. They hate their constant noise.

Once the bats are gone, the others sleep; safe in their immutable habits. But not her. She stares at the stabbing ray of moonlight that finds its way into the cave every night. Her mind is made up. Now is the time to act.

She glances over her shoulder at the pathetic flaps of skin stuck to her back. These wings have never carried her. Gently, she unfolds them and flaps them up and down. Odd how she never noticed how they resemble the bats' wings: brown, leathery, and ugly. To her, they are beautiful and hopefully they can help her escape. She's tired of hiding. Tired of hiding in the dark. She will fly.

Or die trying….

She carefully picks her way around the sleeping forms of the others and makes her way toward the crevice; the forbidden exit. She slips inside and her open wings catch, wrenching her backward. Sheepishly she folds them up tight against her back.

Now she fits inside the crevice with room to spare. There's a ways to go to the end of the crevice. She keeps shuffling forward, her bare feet silent on the still-warm stone. A pebble slips and clatters back down into the cave. It bounces and lands on the floor with a loud POP! Suddenly, the cave comes alive behind her. The others have awoken and they know she is missing.

They try to reach her, grabbing and groping the empty air behind her. She's out of reach, but they are coming after her. The crevice is tight. Then end is so close, she can smell the fresh air. If only…..she sucks in a huge breath and…..she's out! Free of the rock walls that have always held her.

The others call for her to come back to the cave. She doesn't look back. Their voices, once familiar, are now the voices of demons, roaring from the blackness.

But she is free.

A cool gentle breeze tosses her hair around her face. A wild whoop explodes out from her. And she runs forward. Away from the cave. Away from the others. And away from the dark.

Moonlight lights up the world around her in colors she'd only dreamed of. Silvers and blue and whites and blacks all mix together on the nighttime landscape. For the first time ever she sees trees, hears the wind, and feels grass between her toes. The bats had described the world outside to her before, but she never had imagined…..

Her legs begin to sway of their own accord and soon her whole body follows. Dancing movements come from somewhere in her she didn't remember. She comes alive, dipping and twirling and diving. She feels like she's flying without wings. She's….Something flashes in her vision, catching her eye. Curious, she walks toward it. The grass whispers as she moves, catlike, toward the patch of light. When she comes upon the open expanse, she knows it's water. She has seen it before, but never like this. The water ebbs and flows, coming and going with a rhythm all its own. She leans forward, getting closer...and suddenly reals back.

A monster looks out at her from in the water. Never has she seen something so terrible. The creature stares back at her with glowing yellow eyes, sharp teeth, and horrid brownish skin. It looks bat like, but also human. She stares at it and screams. The creature screams too. She stops. It stops. She looks away and then back. So does the creature.

The truth hits her like a rock. She tests her theory more by doing actions and then watching as the creature in the water mimics her exactly. She now knows what the creature 's her reflection.

She knows about reflections from the bats. But she didn't know she had one too. She only thought they had one. Like some sort of parallel world only bats could see.

Terrified, she backs away from the water. Light is beginning to brighten the emptiness above her. She looks down at herself and sees brownish skin, long limbs, and ugly claws.

Tears form in her eyes as she sinks to the ground. She is ugly. Too ugly for this beautiful world. To ugly for the light from the (what was it the bats called it?) the sun. She was a cave creature. Something belonging to the darkness. She would go back there.

The sun begins to peek over the horizon. Its rays stream across the land like liquid light. Ashamed, she turns her back and feels the warmth spread over her. She looks behind her at the ugly wings she never tried to use, and gasps.

Her wings are fluttering. No, things on them were fluttering. Her wings are not brown, but…white? With, she squints, ...feathers. Like birds. The bats have told her about birds. They only looked brown because mud cakes them. She flaps them up and down powerfully.

The mud breaks off and her wings beat loudly. They are beautiful. She looks down at her body. It too is caked in mud, and her nails have grown long form neglect. She is only filthy.  
She runs back toward the big water, praying with all her might the monster will be gone.

When she reaches the edge, she quickly leans over and…..sees a beautiful face. The face beams at her, dirty but lovely with blonde hair and golden eyes. She is this creature. She knows it.

The light plays off the water and she stands, singing something from deep within her soul. Never more would she live in the dark. She was free forever.

Her wings begin to flap of their own accord. Her feet leave the ground and she rises higher and higher. Forever, she will be free.

* * *

Max opened her eyes. Pain shot through her back and out into her wings. Groaning, she pulled them up against her back and rolled over.

"You okay?"

She glanced over to look at Fang sitting hunched up in his cage. Max nodded and rubbed her eyes.

"Tried to stretch my wings again." She said, a hint of tears in her voice. Fang reached out a hand and she took it through the bars. It was warm and comforting.

"I had a dream." Max admitted sheepishly. Fang smiled.

"Tell me about it."

Max spent the next quiet hour recalling the dream to Fang. He asked no questions, only listened.

"And then I flew away into the sky." She finished finally. Fang blinked once, and then nodded.

"I have a feeling that we are going to get out of here today." He said seriously. Max was about to bring him out of the clouds when a voice came from behind them.

"You're right Fang," agreed Jeb as he came forward out of the shadows, "You are getting out of here today. And I'm going to help you." He pulled a key ring from his belt and unlocked their cages.

* * *

**A/N: Had this idea and wanted to write it down. Hope you liked it. Remember, reviews make me smile! :) Also, constructive criticism is appreciated. **


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